A/N: Robin and Regina finally talk.

Sometimes Regina wishes she had different friends. Bad ones. Ones that would support her poor choices and allow her to run away from the things that scare her. Unfortunately, she didn't have bad friends. She had Mal. And after one talk with her, she was driving to Robin's house to finally have the conversation she'd put off for the last decade.

She rang his doorbell only to have no one answer. For a second, she thought she'd actually dodged a bullet. If he wasn't home there was nothing she could do except leave and try again in another ten years. Then his truck pulled into the driveway.

They locked eyes through his windshield and her mouth went dry. She realized she had no idea what she wanted to say to him. Only that what she'd said the night before wasn't it.

Her stomach twisted in knots when he'd climbed out of his truck and walked past her to the door. "If you're here for round two, I really don't have the energy today."

"I'm not here to fight," she replied, ignoring the sting of his apparent indifference. "I think I got my fair share of that last night. Don't you?"

Robin sighed, leaving his hand on the door knob as he turned to face her. She realized he looked as tired as she felt. "What do you want, Regina?"

"I want to talk, Robin. Actually talk." She crossed her arms, feeling vulnerable. 'I don't want last night to be… how the conversation ends." Or how we end, she silently adds.

He searches her face for a moment before opening the front door. "Come in, then."

It'd been years since she'd last stepped foot in Robin's house. She'd heard through the grapevine that he'd inherited it from his father and lived there since his death. Though the bones were the same, the skin of the place had changed. The ancient floral wallpaper was torn down, replaced with pale green paint. The old sofa was long gone and so was his father's favorite lazyboy. One thing that remained the same was pictures. The frames still hung on the walls and displayed in a china cabinet. She recognized more than a few of them but also noticed the new additions. Some of Robin in his older years, Roland's younger ones. A few of them both with his deceased wife Marian. Shame rose in her cheeks when she felt the heavy weight of what if tugging at her stomach yet again.

"The place has changed a lot," she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah… a lot of things have," he replied. Gesturing toward the living room sofa, he offers her a seat. With an ocean of space between them, they both take a seat. Robin looks at her expectantly but her words are caught in her throat. An awkward silence falls over them as she wrings her hands unsure of what to say first.

"Look Robin, I have been thinking about last night and everything that happened," she started. "You were really cruel and unfair to me. And I am still furious about a lot of the things you said to me but… I also want to apologize about things that were said to you." She paused to look him in the eye. "Losing our baby was the saddest thing that's ever happened to me. I don't like to talk about it or think about it, and sharing it with others isn't something I ever planned on doing with anyone… not even you. I didn't want to tell you what happened because I didn't think it mattered after you broke up with me. But I know first hand how hard it is to hear news like this. And if you were ever going to learn what happened with the baby you should've learned it from me, not somebody else. It wasn't what you deserved and it was not what I wanted for you. And for that, I am truly sorry."

She waited with bated breath for Robin's reaction but he just sat still for a moment, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the carpet beneath their feet. Studying his face, she watched his steely resolve slowly and subtly shatter. "Are you okay?"

"I…" His voice broke and he took a deep breath. "I am a million things right now but I don't think okay is one of them. I got hit with something huge last night and I don't even know how to feel about it."

"Well, you're not the only one," she reminded him, crossing her arms. She might've apologized first but she refused to let him forget about his lakeside confession.

"I realize that," he admitted, rubbing his brow in frustration. "And you were right, it wasn't fair for me to bring it up after all these years. But it happened. We know things now. And I am torn between feeling like it changes nothing and feeling like it changes everything."

Regina shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "Okay, that's fair."

"I'm sorry I called you a liar last night," he mumbled. "That was shitty of me and I don't think you lied. I never did. I believed what you said the moment you said it. And I… even understand why you didn't tell me about what happened. But I am still angry about it. Mostly at me, not at you, because I thought I was doing the right thing when I broke up with you. And now I feel like that's not true."

"Robin," she scoffed, digging her fingernails into her arm, "even if I hadn't been pregnant, it wouldn't have made what you did the right thing." She paused. "You broke my heart."

"I did and I am sorry but you were the one who was keeping things from me."

"Why would I tell you anything after you obliterated me right after gradua-"

"I am not talking about the pregnancy! I am talking about Harvard," he interjected.

"Harvard?"

"Yes," he hissed. "I found that letter in your purse and I waited for weeks for you to come to me about it. The entire time I had knots in my stomach until I realized… you were never going to bring it up."

Her jaw dropped as she thought back to those last few weeks of high school and remembered how distant he'd acted. She'd thought he'd just been worried about his father. Turns out he'd been waiting on her.

"I was going to tell you. I just… it was complicated," she stammered. "And what does it matter? It was my choice."

"It was your choice… but it was also my life," he stressed. "Regina… it was always clear that you were somewhat out of my league."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please..."

"No, it was true," he gently continued. "You were smarter than me, you had bigger goals and bigger dreams than I ever did. It's… why I loved you." He let out a heavy breath. "And I guess I always knew my dreams were never gonna be as big but that was okay. All that mattered to me was that I wasn't the guy that held you back. And I felt like you were about to make me that guy."

The tears that had been welling up in her eyes finally spilled down to her cheeks as she listened. "I.. why didn't you talk to me?"

He shrugged, getting equally upset. "I don't know. I… was young. I was stupid and sad and reckless and… I felt like I didn't have any other choice."

"So… you lied?"

"Yeah, I lied." He nodded. "If it was a choice between me and your dreams, I didn't want you to choose me. I couldn't walk around with that on my head."

Regina's breath grew shaky as she listened to Robin's explanation of their break-up. For the first time, she had a clear picture of that day at the lake after graduation. Where she once saw a callous, cruel boy who cared nothing for her, she now looked back to see a scared kid who didn't know how to do better or what the reality of his choice even meant.

Rubbing her hands together, she sighed. "It wasn't just about you Robin. Yes, I wanted to stay and be with you while your dad was sick but… two days after I got that letter I realized I was pregnant."

"Oh.."

"Yeah…"

Robin scrunched his eyes closed in confusion. "That was weeks before graduation. Why didn't you tell me?"

She softly chuckled against her will, remembering the pounding terror that had sat in her chest near the end of their relationship. So many questions and fears had been swirling in her head. The fact that she even made it to graduation was a miracle.

"I don't know… I think I wasn't ready to face it yet," she sadly replied. "I saw that pink plus sign and all I wanted to do was hide from everything. The pregnancy, Harvard… I wasn't ready to think about what it all meant for my future."

Robin's face fell. "And then I broke up with you."

She nodded. "You broke up with me and everything just… crashed."

He softly fell back against the couch, letting his chin rest on the palm of his hand. "Wow…"

Again silence fell over them, broken only by the gently ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. As Regina listened to it, she thought about their breakup and all the days that came after it. All the tiny and big decisions she made, as well as the ones he made. And for the first time in years, she allowed herself to really think about how differently things could've turned out if either of them had made a different choice.

What if Robin hadn't broken up with her at the lake? What if she'd chosen to tell him about the letter when it came? What if she'd told him she was pregnant? What if he'd actually talked to her about his insecurities? How different could things have been?

It was a full minute before either of them spoke again.

"Do you hate me?" Robin asked.

She looked up, startled by his question. Her heart clenched in her chest when she saw the fear in his eyes.

"That day at the lake… I thought I was protecting you," he mumbled. "I thought it was okay for me hurt you because at least I was hurting me at the same time but… If you hate me now, I wouldn't blame you."

"I… did. I hated you for a very long time, Robin. But I also missed you more than I missed anyone in my entire life." She paused, feeling herself getting choked up. "The whole time I was pregnant, all I wanted to do was call you but I was so scared you wouldn't even pick up." Tears were running down her face. "You left me so alone."

"I'm sorry, Regina," he apologized. "I mean it. I am completely and eternally sorry for hurting you. You were the love of my life, the absolute last person I wanted to cause any pain and I am sorry. I'm sorry for not being there when you were pregnant and… I'm sorry I wasn't there the night you lost the baby. It was the worst night of your life, it involved me and… you may not hate me for not being there anymore but I think it'll be a very long time before I don't."

She nodded solemnly, studying his face. It was as if he'd aged five years in the last ten minutes.

"How… how did it happen?"

Her chest goes tight and so does her throat. Her voice is raspy when she answers, "It was spontaneous. There was no fall or accident. I just felt this pain very suddenly… the doctor said there was nothing I could've done."

Sorrow passes over his eyes and her hand finds his. She holds it tight, letting it ground her in the moment. "You being there wouldn't have stopped anything."

He presses his lips together before nodding in acceptance. "Were we ever really good together?"

She tilts her head at him and he helplessly shakes his head. "All these years when I look back on us, on our relationship… it was one of the best of my life. I loved you. You're the person who taught me what it meant to love someone and now we're here, ten years later, talking about the past and learning we hid things from each other, lied to each other. Neither of us had any faith…" He sighs heavily. "It just makes me wonder. Was it all nostalgia and rose-colored glasses?"

It was a question she'd asked herself a hundred times after they broke up. Had it all been her imagination? Had she thought him to be kinder than he really was? More caring and attentive? Had it all been in her head? Every time she came to the same conclusion.

"No, it wasn't just nostalgia," she wistfully replied. "I remember us. I remember you picking me up in your truck for school every day. You were the first person I went to every time my parents fought or my mom picked at me. You kept me from pulling my hair out when I applied to colleges and making me laugh every single day. The way I felt about you… I don't think I've felt that way about anyone since."

It's the scariest thing in the world to her. The idea that she'll never love anyone the way she loved him. That she'll never feel as happy and safe with someone as she did with him every moment before graduation.

"We were good Robin. Better than good, even. We were magic, once." She allowed herself a small smile. "That's what made the ending so confusing. God, what happened to us, Robin?"

"I think we became adults," he whispered. "I mean, we were so young and all that shit got thrown at us at once and we just…"

"Crumbled," she sadly finished, shaking her head. "We didn't stand a chance, did we?"

As soon as she said the words, she knew they were true. Between his dad's cancer, her pregnancy and the weight of the future hanging over both of their heads their end had been inevitable.

Moving closer to her, he mumbled, "You know, losing you was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I don't think I ever really forgave myself for it."

The sincerity in his blue eyes pierces her soul. Despite putting it off for so long, she'd imagined this conversation a thousand times. Sometimes she imagined herself feeling superior when she finally reamed him out for their break up, other times she imagined feeling two feet tall after letting him know about her miscarriage. But now that she was here actually talking to him about everything that happened between them she only felt… less alone in her hurt.

"Do you… do you think we could've done it?" he asked. "If things had turned out differently and I hadn't lost the baby… do you think we could've been parents?"

"No." She immediately shakes her head. "I want to say that we would've done our best and made it work but Robin… we were kids."

A soft chuckle falls from his lips as he nods in agreement. "I know. I'm trying to picture 19-year-old me with a baby and… I shudder. I wouldn't have trusted me back then."

"I wouldn't have trusted me either," she softly replied. Pausing, she added, "Sometimes… I think about it though. Our baby. What might've been."

"I would've been there for you," he says. "No matter when you told me, before graduation or after you left. I would've tried my best to take care of you."

"I know you would've." She nods. "And I thought about it a lot. So many times. The two of us going to ultrasounds, figuring out daycare and potty training, all the different things we'd do for our daughter."

His eyebrows rose. "Daughter? Did you…"

"No!" She shakes her head, feeling embarrassment rise in her cheeks. "I didn't have the chance to find out. I just always had this feeling that it was a girl. I still can't shake it."

She tries to shrug as if it doesn't matter but the murky image of the baby girl they could've had is one that has haunted her ever since the miscarriage. For a long time, all she saw when she closed her eyes was a little girl with dark hair and his eyes. She'd never been able to picture anything else. And she would never find out if she was right or not.

"A girl would've been nice," Robin whispered.

"Yeah… it would've been."

They both go silent, taking a moment to picture what could've been. Deep down, Regina knows raising a baby at 19 would've derailed her life in so many ways. Still, there were moments where she can't help thinking about the life she'd missed out on. Not her life but her child's. Through rose-colored glasses she imagines what it would have been like to have a daughter and to raise her with Robin's help. After everything they'd talked about, she can't stop herself from including him in the picture. They wouldn't have been able to handle being parents together. But maybe they could've handled being a family?

She can feel herself falling down an emotional rabbit hole and mentally claws her way out of it. Imagining all the different ways things could've turned out was painful and pointless. Especially when it came to Robin. Their story was finished now. The time had come to let him go.

It was then she realized that she was still holding his hand.

"I should go." She pulled her hand back into her lap, her palm still burning from his touch. "It's a long way back to Boston and I should get ready."

Something akin to disappointment shone in his eyes as he nodded. "Of course. I'll walk you out."

"Sure." She wrung her hands as they made their way to the door. Walking through the hallway it struck her that this might be the last time she would ever be in Robin's house. Possibly, the last time she would ever talk to him at all.

Turning to face him, she says "I know none of this was easy about but… I'm really glad I got to talk to with you, Robin. It meant everything."

"Thanks," he replied. He hesitated before adding. "I hope this isn't the last time you come to town. A lot of people here miss you."

She softly chuckled. Unsure if that was true, she started to shake her head but then she looked in his eyes and saw the honesty in them. It hadn't been just anybody who missed her. It was him.

He held open his arms and she stepped into them, just like she'd done a hundred times before in the past. Her face fell into the crook of his neck as he pulled her close. It was meant to be a goodbye hug but they let it linger. She kept her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent. It seemed crazy but she could swear he smelled just like he used to in high school. An alluring mixture of pine and nostalgia. His hands slowly drifted down her back, sending shivers down her back.

When she pulled back she fully intended to let him go and walk out of his life for the second time.

But then she looked into his eyes…

She couldn't tell you who kissed who. Maybe she kissed him, maybe he kissed her, maybe they kissed each other. It hardly mattered. All she knew was that her lips were against his. Hesitant at first, with the lightest brush of his lips against her own. Then eager, a slight pause giving way to a rush of passion, she'd thought was long buried. The scruff around his jaw passed against her skin - a reminder of the man he'd become - and she softly moaned against her will.

Warmth pools between her thighs as she's brought back languid kisses traded beneath the stars. His hands travel down to her hips and she remembers the first night he ever touched her like this, how it felt, how much it meant to her.

Her breath catches in her throat as Robin suddenly pulls back, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean.."

"Don't apologize." She subtly licks her lips, already missing the taste of him. "It wasn't all you."

The air between them grew thick as they paused, staring into each other's eyes. Regina could tell he knew as much as she did that what would happen next wasn't a good idea. But she also knew that it didn't matter. Because even after ten years apart kissing him still felt like home.

Robin stepped closer to her again, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. When he looked down at her, she saw something like love in his eyes. "I really missed you," he whispered.

It's him who kisses her this time, tilting her head up and bring her lips to his. She turns to putty when they touch, trying to remember the last time she'd ever been treated so tenderly. Her tongue slipped past his lips, wanting to taste him in every way possible.

It's all the permission he needs before letting himself devour her once more. In one swift second he wraps his arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet, never once breaking their kiss. Before she realizes she's in his room, on his bed, lying on her back with him on top of her. Memories of nights spent under the stars in the bed of his pickup swirls in her head as his lips fall to neck. She feels like a teenager again in the best way.

The skirt of her sundress falls to her hips as she hikes her leg up against his torso. He feels firmer than she remembers, stronger. Her hands go up and down his back, feeling the muscles under his shirt move beneath her palms. She wonders if she feels different to him. She must. She's older, still in good shape but perhaps a little doughier than she'd been in high school. Any insecurities she carries are swept away with each assurance of her beauty that he whispers in her ear.

They take their time exploring each other. Undressing, touching, and kissing each other's bodies they discover things that have changed, things that haven't. He kisses his way down her neck, past her breasts and stomach, straight to the valley between her thighs, praising every inch of her as he goes. She sees stars as he works on her, unable to stop her cries of pleasure from reaching past the bedroom walls.

When he's finally inside of her, she never wants to let him go. Her fingers dig into his back, pulling him closer to her. Being with him feels different than it did before. The timidity of their youth is gone, replaced with a bold eagerness that they're now old enough to appreciate. It's better, easier and - though she'd never admit it clothed - exactly what she needs. She comes with his chest against her own and his voice in her ear, softly begging for her to let go. He follows not long after.

They fall back into the sheets - spent, satisfied and silent. As the haze of pleasure fades from both their minds, the realization of what just happened sinks in. Neither of them speak a word. Regina bites her lip, pulling the sheets further up her chest. Oh...

This certainly hadn't been the plan when she'd come over. She was only supposed to talk to him, hopefully get a little closer in the process. Falling into bed with him had not been part of the deal. She subtly sneaks a look at Robin. He looks just as lost in thought as she is. A small part of her is relieved that she's not the only one baffled by what they'd allowed to happen.

Like a movie their entire relationship played on a reel in her head. From meeting to breakup to reunion. She saw all the love and the heartbreak and the secrets. When it was over, she turned her head, finally able to look him in the eye, and did the most unexpected thing.

She laughed.

It started small, with giggles that she tried to hide behind her hand as he stared at her in bewilderment, until it erupted into unstoppable belly laughs that brought tears to her eyes.

A cautious smile tugged on Robin's lips. "Something funny?"

"Not at all." She shook her head, still unable to hold her laughter in. "It's just" - she giggled - "this is so stupid, I think I'm cracking up." She paused, gripping his shoulder trying to ground herself back in the moment. "I mean, we have a horrific break up, we don't speak for ten years and then we unload all this traumatic shit on each other and then have sex? Oh god…" She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. "Seriously, the only thing that could make this a worse decision is …"

"If it happened in the back of my pick-up?" he supplied, chuckles starting to bubble in the back of his throat.

Regina started cracking up again, as she nodded. "Insane!"

She fell back into the pillows, her laughter softly subsiding as Robin joined her. Taking a deep breath she finally quieted down, turning on her side to stare into his thoughtful eyes. "What are we doing?"

He shrugged, tracing a finger down her arm. "Surrendering to the nostalgia?"

Chuckling, she allowed herself an easy smile. "I guess that would be the nice way to put it." Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed, still not believing that she'd let herself fall into bed with Robin Locksely… again. She could say that it hadn't been planned but neither had anything that happened this weekend. At least this time she was smart enough to have an IUD.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concern clear in his voice as he sat up on his elbow to study her face. "You know you had that exact same look in your eyes after our first time. Like you're trying to figure out whether or not you regret something."

She awkwardly hummed, a blush rising in her cheek at the memory of that night. "Regret isn't the word for what I'm feeling. I think I'm leaning more toward astonishment."

He grinned wickedly at her. "Is that a compliment?"

She snickered at his smugness. "No… though you have improved in certain areas."

"Thanks," he chuckled. "I've had a few years to practice. Also helps when we're not in the bed of an old truck."

"I can't believe that was our go to place," she whispered. "We were bold."

"We were desperate," he corrected. "Because my dad was always home and your mother didn't allow me in the house."

"That's right," she said, nodding. "We had to get creative." They had been so eager back in their youth, foolish and reckless, throwing all caution to the wind. A part of her missed that feeling, though she supposed she hadn't lost it entirely. She was here, after all.

She sits up on her elbow, reaching out to stroke the scruff around his chin. "I'm okay, Robin. I promise."

Leaning in, she kisses him again, allowing herself to melt into the moment. She lingers, feeling warm all over and safe again. It wasn't fair for things to feel this right. Not when it wasn't able to last.

Pulling back, she rests her forehead against his. "I have to go back to Boston."

"I know," he whispers back. They both stay quiet, unwilling to leave the bubble they'd created but knowing that it will inevitably burst.

Before either of them could speak, a soft ringing breaks the silence. Her cellphone. Struggling to keep the sheet above her chest, she sits up. Where did she leave it? It buzzes once again and she realizes it must've fallen to the floor when Robin carried her in the room. Finding it next to the foot of the bed, she answers it without looking. "Hello?"

"Hey mom, when are you coming back?" Henry answers her without preamble and her heart clenches. "Aunt Mal says we have to leave soon and you're burning daylight."

She grins at the way he parrots her best friend's words. Glancing behind her, she can see that Robin has already started to get dressed. Her eyes stay on him as she speaks. "Tell her I'll be back soon. I'm almost done here."

"Okay," Henry drawls, uncertainly. "Oh, can you pick me up a snack on the way? I want something for the drive home."

"I promise I will," she replies, before wishing him goodbye. After hanging up she sits on the bed for a moment, letting her mind wander. In a few hours she'd be driving back to the city with Henry. It suddenly strikes her that there is life beyond this town, beyond this reunion, beyond this gorgeously familiar man who she just got out of bed with. After today nothing that happened here would matter, not really. In the end, she'd go back to her real life. Surprisingly, the thought of it didn't make her sad at all. She realized she was looking forward to going home and resuming the life she'd worked so hard to build. It was a good one. She deserved it.

Turning to Robin, she softly mumbled, "They're waiting on me."

He nodded, sadly. "Yeah, I thought so."

She dresses in private. Robin stands out in the hall, leaving the bedroom to her. It seems moot after what just happened, but she's grateful for the privacy.

Everything happened so fast, she hadn't realized he'd moved into the main room of the house. She'd never been in before. When they were teenagers, she mostly spent time in his room (door always open per his father's instructions). A smile tugs on her lips as she remembers his old comforter and the sports posters taped to his wall. It's probably all gone now, moved out to make room for his own son. Minutes ago it'd felt like no time had passed at all between them. Now, she's standing in his adult bedroom wondering when they'd both decided to grow up.

He quietly walks her to her car and she can tell he's struggling to figure out what exactly to say to her. Opening her door she turns to him, surprisingly calm and settled. "So… guess this is goodbye?"

"Looks like it," he says, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It'd be really nice if wasn't forever this time."

She smiles, wishing she could promise him that it wouldn't be. But after everything that came out this weekend, she knew they were long past lying to each other.

Sighing, she dropped her gaze to the ground. "Robin breaking up with me was a shitty thing for you to do but it happened, so did… other things and, as awful as it was, I don't want you to carry guilt over it because… I'm okay." She nodded, hopefully. "I really like my life. I'm glad I went to Harvard. I'm glad I got to be a lawyer and I'm really glad I adopted my son. If things had turned out differently I might never have met him and I don't think I want to live a life where I'm not Henry's mother. I'm happy with where I ended up. And I want you to be happy too."

She meant every word of it. If she never spoke to Robin again after this moment, she didn't want him carrying the weight of what happened between them over his head for the rest of his life. He deserved better than that.

"I'm glad you're happy, Regina." He smiles. "That's all I've ever wanted for you."

This time it's easy to let go when she hugs him. There's no pain or longing to carry with her when it ends. As she drives away from his home and starts the journey back to her own, her eyes flicker toward his reflection in the rearview mirror. Her heart thumps, approvingly. It's a good feeling, knowing that she's finally able to wish him well.

After all, he is her first love and she is his.

No amount of pain, secrets or time will ever change that.

A/N: Alright, the next chapter will be the final one and epilogue. Let me know what you think and leave a review!